Bleacher seat



Jam-5,` 1932.Y c. LEFFERT ET AL BLEAGHER SEAT Filed Oct. 29, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- Jan. 5, 1932. c. B. LEFFERT ET AL I 1,339,233

BLEACHER SEAT Filed Oct. 29, 1928 12 Sheets-Sheet 2 I f/ @W 'sin , This invention relates to improvements inV Patented Jan. 5, 1932 i UNITEDSTATES PATENTOFFICE CHARLESy B. LEEEEET AND CHARLES; r-r. DIETZ, El CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQES To UNITED STATES Tram* e@ 0E ILLINOIS AWNING- COMPANY, O F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION' p ELEAGHER SEAT Application `filed October 29, 1928. Serial No. 315,738.

bleacher seats' and it consists of thel matters i 1 hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

rigid construction andywhich may be produced with less labor and material cost and and taken down for storage.'

Another object of the inventionis to: vide a structure;ofthiskind, wherein nol corner rcutting or trimming is necessary for thel frontend of the stringers and the front seatl is brought closer to Lsaid ends though kstill maintained at that heightinsuring a com-y lifortablevsitting position for the occupants.

Y Stillanother objectgof the invention is toy provide a structure of this kind wherein the `against shifting endwise in either direction seat supporting stringers arefpositively held under the action of the load imposed upon the structure by the occupants. Y

Still a further ob-'ect of the'invention is to provid-e a structure wherein the provision of a floor plate for each Stringer is eliminated,

thusv avoiding the,l heretofore necessaryl trenching or `grading and leveling for such stringers.

others, together with the many advantages thereof will more fully appear as we proceed with ourspeciication. 1 In the drawings:-

.y Fig. l is a view in end elevation of bleacher v seats embodyingjour improved construction. 1 Fig. 2-is a perspective view kshowing the 4 manner of mounting a VStringer on a toe strip which is common to a plurality of such takenon the line 57-5 of Fig. 3..

Y. Fig. 6 is avdetail-view of a cable clamp em- -.ployed in. ourimproved bleacher seats and `.which will be more fullyV described later.

Referring nowr in 1detail ,to that -embodiek The primary object of the invention is to K provide bleacher seats ofsimple though morev ,which seats may lbe readily Set up for use; 10

These objects of the invention as well ment of our invention, l indicates as a. whole one of a plurality of the seatsupporting stringers, each in the form of an edgewise disposed board of the desired lengthwidth and thickness.-4 All ofV said stringersextend upwardly and rearwardly from theirfront ends, which though' not directly .engaged with, are disposedabove a toe strip -2 coin- Inon to all or any numberoftheistringers,

Isaid, stringers being supported by -'longitudinally spaced stands or jacksB-Bas they are v `strip and the spacingof the several pairs longitudinally of the toe strips,fof`course determines the spacing of the seat'stringers which'are operatively engaged therewith as will later4 appear. Each bracket includes a horizontal flange 4fL which engages upon and is fixed to the top surface of thetoestripvin any suitable manner, and anyupright'flange 4b in which openings 4c and 4d' are formed.

y On the front end yof each Stringer we provide a casting indicated as a whole by the numeral 5. Each casting which vis of an open frame construction is of apwidth vtofit between the brackets 4 4 of'a pair thereof and vincludes a horizontally. disposed elongated rectangular fiat base 6 and an upwardly andv rearwardly inclined plate 7 connected tothe base near the front end by .a Short curved standard 8 andinear'the rear end by an upright standard 9 thus leaving an opening between the several parts described, lasis apparent from -F ig. 3. Y Made integral withthe front end of the inclinedplate 7 and extending upwardly at a right angle thereto is an apertured end wal-lf 10l and said endfwall is connected at each side-to'saidplate,by substantially triangular open bracefwalls -11-in flo Which are formed registering openings 12-12. The end of each Stringer l fits within the pocket provided by the plate 7 and walls 10 and 11 respectively and bolts 13 eX- tend transversely through suitable openings in the end of said Stringer and through said openings 12-12 to partially secure the casting to the Stringer end. In the rear end of the plate 7 beyond the Standard 9 iS-an opening.

vfoot rest boards 19, the foot rest boards being disposed in planes between those of the seat boards. lBy the construction thus far described, it is possibe to place the lower frontmost seat board right close to the front end of the stringersrand which board will still be disposed at a comfortable Sitting height above the vground and at the same time will elim-inate any Stringer ends forward of the stringers for the people to stumble over in ascending the Structure as a whole to the desired seat board.

In assembling the bleacher Seats, after inserting a bolt 2O through the front holes 4 of each pair of brackets, the toe strip 2 which is common to a plurality of stringers is laid in place and should the ground or other surface be uneven, it, of course, will have to be first levelled off. In this connection it is pointed out that with the use of a toe strip, the necessity of further levelling off for the usual foot plate heretofore associated with each Stringer is avoided and in this respect both a consider able material and labor cost is saved. After the toe plate, with the bolts 2O thereon is in place, the stringers each with a cast-v `ing 5 thereon'are positioned with respect to the associated pair of brackets l. This is done by inserting the front end of the base 6 Vbetween the brackets of each pair from the Arear of the toe strip and pushing the stringer forwardly until the short curved standard 8 engages the bolt-20 after which another bolt 1 2l is inserted through the rear holes ld of the v -brackets a short distance to the rear of said standard 8. This structure prevents undue shifting-of the stringers with respect to the toe Strip when the occupants are moving about the assembled Seat structure or are jumping up and ydown due to excitement as when observing a game of some kind.

The successive stands SS are then applied to the Stringers to support them in place and y ings.

give them the desired upward and rearward inclination. After the seat Structure has thus far been assembled, we place a clamp carrying strip 22 in position upon the ground to engage with the rear of the bottom ends of the rearmost stands, this strip carrying a plurality of cam'lever like cable grips or clamps 23 so disposed as to come midway between the legs of said rearmost stand. Thereafter we provide a cable 24 having a clevis 25 at one end which is hooked around the rearmost standard 9 of the associated casting 5 and the rear end of said cable is inserted through a clamp 23 and is then drawn taut. When thus clamped or gripped said cable is under tension and thus makes the entire structure more rigid. The seat and foot boards are then placed in position and the structure as a whole is ready for occupancy. To take down the structure, the operation will, of course, be the reverse.

rIhey structure described has many advantages lt eliminates the use of individual floor plates for each Stringer and also the corner cutting on the stringere and thus considerably reduces material labor and assembly cost. It also provides a structure wherein the stringers are rigidly secured in place against Shifting under the jumping up and down of the occupants during excitement which has oftentimes resulted in accidentsv due to collapse of entire structure caused by Such Stringer shift- ()n the whole there is produced a much stronger, rigid and cheaper Structure which may be more easily handled with less helpin erecting theisame or taking it down for storage.

"While in ldescribing the invention we have referred in detail to the form, construction and arrangement of the various parts there of, the same is to be considered merely as illustrative and we therefore do not wish to be limited thereto'eXcept as may be pointed out in the appended claims. f

TWe claim as our invention c l. A bleacher seat structure Vembodying therein, stringers, supporting stands therefor, a member disposed beneath one end of said stringere, means providing u right space'dflanges on said member, a brac {etienclosing a part of the bottom, end and Sides of one corner of the Stringer and including a flat base adapted to engage upon said member between said flanges and means extending through a parteof said bracket and said flanges for preventing longitudinal shifting of said Stringer in either direction with respect to said member.

2. A bleacher Seat structureV embodying therein a plurality of laterally spaced Stringers, supporting stands for each Stringer, a member disposed transverselyy of and beneath one end of a number` of stringers, means providing a pair of upright spaced flanges on said-member foreach Stringer,I a

gitudinal shifting of Said stringers in eitherv direction with respect to said member.

- 3. A bleach-er seat structure embodying therein, a Stringer, supporting stands therefor, a member disposed beneath one end ofv said Stringer, coacting parts on Said Stringer and member respectively for preventing longitudinal shifting of said Stringer in either direction with respect to said member, a cable connected at one end to said part on said Stringer and capable of being tensioned, and means to the rear of one of said stands for anchoring the other end of said cable after it has been so tensioned.

4. A bleacher seat Structure embodying therein a Stringer, supporting stands therefor, a member fixed to one end of the Stringer and including a base and a part rising therefrom, but spaced from one end thereof, a second member disposed beneath said end of the Stringer spaced upright flanges on said second member and transverse bolts connecting said flanges and engaged with a part of said member fixed to Said Stringer to pre` vent longitudinal movement of said Stringer in either direction. i

5. A bleacher seat structure embodying therein a Stringer, Supporting stands therefor, a casting fixed to one end of said stringer and including a plate and a base connected together by integral front and rear portions, a member beneath said end of the Stringer, spaced side flanges thereon between which the base is disposed, means carried by said flanges and engaging to the front and rear of said front portion above the base to secure the casting against movement with respect to Said member, a clamp carrying member arranged to the rear of one of said legs, a clamping device thereon and a tension member connected at one end to Said rear portion and engaged at its other end in said clamp.

6. A bleacherV seat structure embodying therein an edgewise disposed Stringer having a front end arranged at Substantially a right angle to the edges thereof, supporting stands for said Stringer, a casting fixed to said front end of said Stringer and including a horizontally disposed base and an upwardly and rearwardly extending plate, means con-'1 necting said base and plate, a membery disposed beneath said end of said Stringer,

ing means'as to lock said casting against movement with respect to said flanges.

7 In a bleacher seat Structure, a casting comprising a horizontally disposed base and a plate above the Same but inclined upwardly kwith respect thereto, front and rear parts connecting said base and plate, a wall rising from one end of said plate and disposed at a right angle thereto and apertured parts disposed at the sides of said plate and connecting the side portions of said wall thereto.

8. In a bleacher seat structure, a Stringer, a member associated with the Stringer and including a base and part rising therefrom to receive and be Secured to a corner part of the Stringer, a Second member disposed beneath the base and upon which Said base engages flanges rising from said Second mem-V ber, one on each side the base and devices removably secured to the flanges and So engaging the base and Said part rising therefrom, as to hold said base down upon said second member and against longitudinal movement in the direction of said flanges.

9. In a bleacher seat structure, a Stringer, a member associated with the Stringer and including a base and part rising thereof to receive and be Secured to a corner part of the Stringer, a second member disposed beneath the base and upon which Said base engages,

flanges rising from saidsecond member, one p on each side the base and bolts extending between Said flanges above said' base and fore and aft the part rising therefrom for holding the base down upon said second member and against longitudinal movement in the direction of the anges.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this l12th day of October, 1928.

CHARLES B.- LEFFER'I.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto Set my hand this 12th day of October, 1928.

Y v CHARLES I-I. DIETZ.

spaced ianges on said member between Y which said base may be disposed and devices extending between said flanges and so disposed with respect to said base and connect- 

